Advances in computer technology (e.g., microprocessor speed, memory capacity, data transfer bandwidth, software functionality, and the like) have generally contributed to increased computer application in various industries. Particular technological advances have been made with respect to wireless applications in the telecommunications industry. However, with the emergence of more sophisticated wireless applications, the need for more efficient traffic management tools has become increasingly important.
In general, applications that require wireless connectivity can be classified into two broad categories: elastic and non-elastic. Non-elastic applications are generally applications that have very little or no flexibility in terms of packet delay and throughput. Examples of non-elastic applications include real-time video streaming and real-time speech. If packets for such non-elastic applications are delayed beyond a relatively small limit, the packets become worthless. Elastic applications, on the other hand, are generally applications that can tolerate variations in packet delay and throughput—some more than others. Depending upon the tolerated level of variations, applications may have varying degrees of elasticity. Hereinafter, applications having some level of flexibility in terms of packet delivery will be referred to as “elastic” applications. Traditional examples of highly elastic applications are e-mail and short message service (SMS).
Current state-of-the-art wireless networks are incapable of determining the level of elasticity of a given application, which in some instances depends on end device characteristics such as caching limitations, display capabilities, and memory/power/computing resources. Hence, current wireless networks are incapable of scheduling or allocating bandwidth resources to elastic applications while taking into account such characteristics. While current wireless networks are capable of handling/delivering traditional elastic applications, such as e-mail and SMS, they may prove inadequate or inefficient in handling emerging vertical applications that have varying levels of elasticity.
For example, an enterprise, such as a utility or phone company, may use a vertical application to optimize its mobile workforce. Such an elastic vertical application may be designed to wirelessly send information to technicians about their next assignment prior to the end of their current assignment. This information may include a number of objects such as text instructions, graphics, data files, etc. with respective differences in their payload size and importance to the technician in terms of delivery priority. Assuming the company initiates delivery well ahead of completion of the current assignment, such an application may be deemed “elastic” because the package of information may not have tight delay/throughput requirements. However, individual objects within this package may have different delivery priorities and differences in payload size. For instance, delivery of certain objects in the package may be critical for the technician to perform the assignment, while other objects may merely be additional information that may or may not be immediately useful depending upon circumstances.
Current wireless networks have no mechanism to consider such differences in object qualities for elastic applications. Current state-of-the-art in technology would most likely transmit all objects generated by the elastic application with a ‘background’ class quality of service (QoS), which in effect means best effort service. This is both inefficient from a network load point of view and does not give any importance to user preferences (here the user in general is the enterprise, and specifically is the technician or mobile work-person).
Accordingly, there is a need for a method and system that facilitates management of elastic wireless applications in a manner that distinguishes between varying levels of elasticity. The above-described deficiencies are merely intended to provide an overview of some of the problems of conventional systems, and are not intended to be exhaustive. Other problems with conventional systems and corresponding benefits of the various non-limiting embodiments described herein may become further apparent upon review of the following description.